Out on the Table
by ElusiveMuse89
Summary: Bruce and Jack explain their respective parlor tricks, or rather Bruce tries to and Jack just doesn't get it. Or does he? Part 2 of Immortality is Overrated series


"We need to get out of Europe," Bruce muttered, cautiously standing up to survey their surroundings while carefully holding the remains of his pants together with one hand.

"Hey, not so hasty!" Jack protested. "Yes, I agree we should get out of London for a while, but if you leave a continent every time something goes wrong, you'll run out of places to go very quickly."

"Torchwood will be up in arms by now!" Bruce insisted. "And if they put up a fuss, the General will hear about it. We need to get as far away from here as possible while we still can!" All of Bruce's instincts were screaming at him to run far away, but he had more than himself to think about now. Did Jack even know what it meant to be a fugitive? He obviously wasn't very good at keeping himself out of trouble if he'd managed to get caught by Torchwood.

Jack frowned, as if he had several things he wanted to say but couldn't decide what to say first. "You smashed up Torchwood Tower," he stated. "They'll be occupied with that for a good while, which gives us a little time. Not much, but enough to slip away. And who is the General?"

"General Thaddeus Ross," Bruce elaborated. "He's been after me ever since- ever since the accident."

"Accident?" Jack repeated.

"The accident that made me like this," Bruce explained.

"Like what?" Jack said blankly.

Bruce stared at him in amazement. Was the man dense? "Hello? Big? Green? Ring any bells?" When Jack still looked confused, Bruce said, "I wasn't always like this! I wasn't always this- this monster!"

Jack's eyes narrowed and he stood up. "Don't!" he said fiercely. "You're not a monster! Don't call yourself-"

"I am!" Bruce interrupted him. "If we're going to be travelling together, you need to understand that he can't be reasoned with. He may have saved you yesterday, but that was just a fluke! He is a creature of destruction and nothing more."

Jack frowned, confused yet again. "Why are you suddenly speaking of yourself in third person?" he asked.

"I wasn't speaking of myself, I was talking about the Other Guy!" Bruce protested. "We are not the same person. He is the personification of my anger. When I get too upset, I turn into him."

"You really should stop contradicting yourself," Jack said. "Are you even listening to yourself? You claim to be two different people, and yet you also call yourself a monster. Then you tell me _he_ is not_ you_ and at the same time tell me you turn into him when you get angry. You're wrong. He is not someone different, he is just a part of you, whether you like it or not. And you are not a monster, no matter what form you take."

Bruce shook his head. "I'm sorry, " he said. "I'm tired and stressed and I'm not explaining myself very well. I can explain it all in better detail when we're somewhere safer and I've had some rest."

"You explained yourself perfectly," Jack replied. "But you're right. We need to find a safe place to recuperate." A sudden smile lit up his face. "I don't have to die today," he said in sudden wonder, as if the thought had only just occurred to him.

Bruce stared as Jack simply closed his eyes, savoring the wind in his face. All thoughts of the Other Guy were shoved aside as Bruce remembered he wasn't the only one with problems.

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked softly.

Jack opened his eyes. There was a wary look on his face, but he was not looking at Bruce. "Why wouldn't I be?" Jack said cautiously.

"I saw you die. And then I saw you come back." Even as the words left his mouth, Bruce cringed._ Stupid, Bruce, stupid!_ Was that a tactless thing to say? Like asking a person's age, or how much money they made?

Jack picked up his coat and slipped it on. Staring intently at the clouds in the sky, Jack asked, "How long have you known?"

"Since yesterday," Bruce admitted.

Startled, Jack slowly turned to fix Bruce with a piercing stare. "You only found out yesterday?" Jack finally said in disbelief.

"You weren't in our usual meeting place at the usual time, so I checked the cameras to find out where you were," Bruce explained. "What they were doing to you- it was horrible, and it was wrong. I was furious."

Jack stumbled backward against a tree and slid back to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked again, concerned. He'd never met anyone who could resurrect themselves, so who knew how dying affected someone like Jack? Was Jack maybe going into shock?

"I thought- I thought you already knew," Jack said in a tone so quiet Bruce almost didn't catch it. "I thought Hartmann paired us up so you could gain my trust, or something like that."

Bruce shook his head in denial and sat down beside Jack. It stung that Jack had believed that of him, but Bruce could easily Hartmann pulling that trick. Maybe that was her plan all along.

"Do you still think that?" asked Bruce.

Jack took a moment to contemplate that, then shook his head. "Not anymore," he said hesitantly. "You're different. A few people have told me they're sorry about what I have to- what I _had to- _go through, but no one has ever tried to do anything about it. Before you, I mean."

"You never answered my question," said Bruce. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Jack said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "My body resets whenever I come back, so I'm as good as new."

"Any aftereffects?" asked Bruce.

"Coming back is exhausting, and I get phantom pains from whatever killed me for a few hours afterwards, but I've already slept it off by now," Jack explained. He stood up and offered Bruce his hand. "So, shall we find a ride? We can grab a cab."

"Jack," Bruce cut in.

"Or we can just take something. Carjacking can be lots of fun!"

"Jack-"

"Or we can stowaway on a plane or a train. Maybe a train. Haven't been on a train in forever!"

"Jack-"

"But not a boat! definitely not a boat! I get seasick!"

"Jack!"

"Oh, no!" Jack groaned. "You want to prance about on foot, don't you? There's going to be plenty of running in the near future! Can't we hitch a ride, just this once? It'll be fun!"

Bruce groaned. He wasn't going to stop, was he?

* * *

><p><strong>AN :**

**So, I thought Jack and Bruce needed to know a little more about each other before they start their grand adventures, but they took their own conversation right out of my hands. Very rude of them, right? I am the writer after all, not them. Oh, well.**

**Takes place right after "Rage and Rescues"**


End file.
